Evolution / Genetics / Biology

1,300-year-old cemetery found in Lima

A team of Peruvian archaeologists has found a 1,300-year-old pre-Hispanic cemetery near Lima's main zoo, a researcher said Friday.

Credit: Diffusion

"We have found three human burials that belong to the pre-Inca culture of Lima with an antiquity of 1,300 years," Lucenida Carrión, head of the Directorate of Archaeology of the Parque de Las Leyendas, told AFP.

The human remains, including two skulls belonging to the Peruvian culture (100-650 AD), were shown to the press by the researchers.

Credit: Diffusion

Carrión explained that the remains were found at the end of February in the 'huaca' or pre-Hispanic sanctuary 'El Rosal' in the district of San Miguel, on the coast of Lima.

The remains, which belong to two adults and one child, were found more than a metre deep. In addition, archaeologists found an oven for ceramics, earthenware vessels and two 'piruros' or spindle whorls.

Credit: Diffusion

The archaeologist explained that one of the adults was found lying face down, while the child, who was about three years old, was lying on his right side with bent legs.

"At the moment we are also excavating a third adult burial, some of the bones of which can be seen protruding from the earth," she said.

Credit: Diffusion

La Huaca El Rosal is located in the northeast corner of Peru's main zoo, Parque de Las Leyendas.

The objects found in this park contain traces of three civilizations and are located in the archaeological complex of Maranga.

According to the archaeologist, the inhabitants of the Lima culture built the first structures in Huaca El Rosal.

In 2016, adobe walls and mud floors were discovered in the lower part of the huaca, and the walls of an oven between 400 and 500 AD.

"These findings are contemporary with the nine human burials found between 2016 and 2017," Carrión noted.